Cotton fabrics esterified with polycarboxylic acids possess excellent smooth drying properties and have good strength retention. The best results have been obtained with catalysts of inorganic phosphorus acids, especially sodium hypophosphite monohydrate (SHP). However, because SHP is fairly expensive and there is some concern that phos phorus from finishing plants would contribute to the pollution of rivers and streams, other catalyst systems are under investigation as substitutes. This paper reports on the characterization of sodium salts of chloroacetic acids as catalysts for esterification crosslink finishing of cotton with 1,2,3,4-butanetetracarboxylic acid (BTCA). In this part of the study, we report on FT-IR identification of the volatile products formed on thermal decomposition of fabrics treated with BTCA and chloroacetate catalysts. HCl does not appear to be released at any temperature, and chloroform, which is a decom position product when trichloroacetate is used as the catalyst, is formed only above curing temperatures.